Lovely London: Part 2

The next day we headed to breakfast along the river for a traditional full english breakfast before meeting up with fellow American, R and her French boyfriend A. We strolled around the British Museum, and through a few small parks, enjoying the sunshine before heading to one of our favorite pubs, The Queen's Head, near King's Cross Station. This old victorian pub has a great selection of ales, ciders, whiskies, and a great selection of tasty sharing platters. We sat in the sunshine, enjoying our brews until it was time for us to board our train to Hogwarts (sort of)! 

We left the pub and walked to Euston Station where we boarded our train to the Harry Potter Studio Tour! We got off at the Watford Junction train station, waited for the Harry Potter Bus to pick us up and within 10 minutes you are in front the the enormous Leavesden Studio! We stored our coats and bags at the free coat check and took our place in the line to enter the studio. While in line we passed the original set for Harry Potter's cupboard under the stairs. Seeing that only heightened our excitement of what was next to come!

We don't want to spoil too much for you, but it is SO worth going if you love Harry Potter. Eve actually shed tears when the tour began (the beginning of the tour is truly magical). The great thing about the tour is you can take as long as you want to walk through it, people have spent all day there before. 

While touring the studio, you see original sets, props, and costumes from all 8 HP movies. It was amazing to see them all together. It reminded us of the Room of Requirement! Some of our favorite things we saw on the tour was: The Headmaster's Office, Gryffindor Common Room, Potions Classroom, Hogwarts Express, and of course the Great Hall! 

They also have a bunch of activities you can participate in such as learning wand work and spell choreography, take photos riding a broomstick, and photos inside a train compartment. Halfway through the tour, you can take a break in the Backlot Cafe where they serve some surprisingly tasty food and of course BUTTERBEER!!!!!!!!

We both bought ourselves a nice cold glass of Butterbeer and pretended we were at the Three Broomsticks. We loved the taste as it reminded us of a salted caramel cream soda with a marshmallow whipped creamy froth on top. 

Since you aren't allowed to stay forever (they do close at night after all) we eventually headed home, souvenirs in tow, and bellies full of Butterbeer.

On our last morning in London we gathered the gang and headed to one of the greatest bottomless brunch spots in London, Bourne & Hollingsworth. B&H is a restaurant and bar in the stylish area of Clerkenwell. The space looks like a mix between a greenhouse, ultra modern bar, and a grandmother's living room. There are plants everywhere, modern hardware and lighting, and overstuffed floral covered furnishings to sit on. 

As we sat down we all ordered either bottomless bellinis or bloody marys (£18/£17 for unlimited glasses). The flavor of bellini changes weekly (that day they were featuring a fresh pear juice) and they make each bloody mary to your specification. Once we all had our first glass, we picked out almost every dish from the menu to sample (one great reason for dining in groups).

After our 20th bellini (slight exaggeration), we exchanged tearful goodbyes and headed to Manchester with P-man. One consolation in leaving our friends behind was the prospect of exploring Manchester and surrounding areas, and the fact that we sat First Class on our favorite train company, Virgin Trains. Ta-ta for now!

xxx Ivy & Eve

Lovely London: Part 1

As we sped away from Paris on the Eurostar, through the countryside of France we sipped our last bottle of rosé and nibbled on french bread and cheeses. The train ride to London from Paris is very quick and easy. We definitely prefer it over the hassle of flying and dealing with Heathrow Airport. Once we arrived in London, we had a quick bite of dinner and visited with friends before heading to bed. 

In the morning, we woke up and headed to one of our favorite chain restaurants in the UK, Bill's. This place has a nice rustic feel to it with enamel tea pots that are ever so lightly worn in, antique looking ceiling tiles and candelabra center pieces in the evening. Ivy, not being able to wait another moment before having a cream tea (a pot of tea with scones, jam, and clotted cream) ordered the Queen's Cream Tea Birthday Special. Eve and our friend A (who we were staying with) ordered poached eggs on avocado on toast and berry banana pancakes. Yum!

After breakfast, A left to do some PhD research (she's such a smart cookie) and we headed off to Oxford Street for a bit of shopping. Our guilty shopping pleasures in the UK are Primark, (The Forever 21 of England), Accessorize (an accessories shop) and New Look (clothing shop). We ended up picking out some killer Harry Potter PJ's at Primark and some cute fluffy purse charms at Accessorize. The summer sales were going on and it was hard not to buy up half of every store!

Once we had wondered all the shops on Oxford Street, we were starving so we headed to the Borough Market right across the street from our friends apartment. This market is AMAZING! It is full of fresh produce, local cheeses, craft ciders and beers, oyster bars, meat shops and more. We could definitely live happily ever after if we only ate here for the rest of our lives! We gobbled up tasty prosciutto sandwiches and a few glasses of sparkling rosé. Later Eve tried a fresh pressed green juice from one of the vendors as well. Seriously yum!

After lunch we went back to the apartment to take a nap and rest our feet. Once A returned from her work we met up with A's boyfriend D and had dinner by the river Thames. We walked past the tower of London and the Tower bridge. We stopped for dinner at a tapas bar and watched the sun set over the river. Once we finished dinner we all went out for a drink at a local pub where Eve and A sipped sparkling wine and Ivy drank her favorite cider, Rekorderlig. 

The next day we started with brunch at Spitalfields Market. This is near where Eve lived a few summers ago for a summer university course. We ended up going to breakfast at Blixen. We ordered scrambled eggs with mushrooms and truffle ragu, a double rosti with spinach poached eggs and parmesan cheese, and side of truffle popcorn all washed down with bubbly, naturally. :)

Afterwords, we took the tube to the Regent Street, where we ran, not walked to Fortnum & Maison. This shop is one of the most beautiful stores in London and filled with tins of cookies, jars of jam, picnic baskets, a huge selection of wines, and more. We wondered in awe for some time dreaming of one day filling our home with all its treasures, then we ran downstairs for the ultimate summer treat. Champagne Popsicles! Their packaging is so pretty we almost didn't want to open them, but lets be realistic, we never waste champagne! 

We bought the pops and headed off to sit in Green Park down the street and enjoy the summer sun. 

Once we had sunned and enjoyed our champagne pops we headed back towards the apartment and walk along the river. By the time we got back though (15 minutes later) it was pouring rain so we were forced to dry off in the apartment till A returned from the library. Once she got back, we walked to Borough Market to try out one of the oyster bars we had spotted earlier. Richard Haward's Oysters had a great deal of 4 oysters and a glass of prosecco for only 10 pounds!

After the oysters, we got changed and met up with a group of friends at a small wine bar called Champagne+Fromage (the name says it all) before heading to Roka Aldwych for a fabulous dinner celebrating our fellow American friend R's masters graduation.

After dinner, we all headed home to rest up for the next day and all the magic to come (hint hint!). Stay tuned!

xxx Ivy & Eve